About My Father Star Sebastian Maniscalco Explains Why He Didn’t Put Stand-Up in His New Film (Exclusive)

Sebastian Maniscalco is currently one of the most famous comedians in the world – so why didn’t actually feature himself doing any stand-up comedy in his new movie About My Father? 

After all, About My Father is loosely based on Maniscalco’s life and the culture clash that happens when his immigrant Italian father meets his fiancee’s parents. The marketing for the movie is unabashed in calling Maniscalco “The hottest comic in America,” but the story of About My Father gives “Sebastian” the new occupational backstory of a successful hotel general manager, who lands the affections of an ultra-wealthy woman named Ellie (Leslie Bibb). 

Given the tradition of comics incorporating their stage personas into their dramatic onscreen projects, Sebastian Maniscalco could’ve easily flexed his stand-up fame on the big screen. So why not do it? 

“I never really even thought about it. Stand-up didn’t really have a story here; the story was the relationship between my wife and I. And me being a hotel general manager is what I would’ve done if I wasn’t a stand-up. So that’s where that came from, but I didn’t see stand-up being an integral part of the movie. What I did for a living really didn’t matter. I was more about the relationship with dad, and going to meet my wife’s family.” 

To be fair, it’s clear from the trailers that About My Father will have Sebastian Maniscalco doing plenty of work being funny – if only to keep up with his onscreen dad, Robert De Niro. With that challenge on the table, plus his biggest leading role in a movie vehicle for himself, it’s perfectly fair that Maniscalco didn’t add writing a tight five to his list of to-do tasks. 

ABOUT MY FATHER SYNOPSIS: The hottest comic in America, Sebastian Maniscalco, joins forces with legendary Italian-American and two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro, in the new comedy “About My Father.” The film centers around Sebastian (Maniscalco) who is encouraged by his fiancée (Leslie Bibb) to bring his immigrant hairdresser father Salvo (De Niro) to a weekend get-together with her super-rich and exceedingly eccentric family (Kim Cattrall, Anders Holm, Brett Dier, David Rasche). The weekend develops into what can only be described as a culture clash, leaving Sebastian and Salvo to discover that the great thing about family is everything about family.

About My Father will be in theaters on May 26th.